Bobbin winder for sewing machines



Oct. 18, 1938. 1 -D KARLE BoBIN WINDER FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Nov. 2o, 1937 2 Sheets-Shget 1 INVENTOR.

m. r a W K n D. A. .m J Y Wim/Es W 1 Oct. 18, 1938. J. D. .KARLE BOBBIN WINDER FOR SEWING'MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 20, 1957 @la 155 161167166 Jo algo?? 15 /MVA I g lle@ NVENTOR. .a Jhn D. Karl/e ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 18, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOBBIN WINDER FOR SEWING MACHINES Application November 20, 1937, Serial No. 175,601

13 Claims.

This invention relates to bobbin-winders for sewing machines and it has among its objects to provide an improved device of this nature which will have a straight line movement between its I operative and inoperative positions; which will afford a more convenient adjustment to compensate for wear in the usual rubber-tired drivewheel; which will provide a greater leverage on the latch-lever that holds the device in operative position, whereby the lever may be shifted by less pressure on the thread; and which will eliminate the usual upstanding portion of the motor-supporting casting on which, in prior constructions, the 'spindle-carrying arm was epivotally mounted. In the prior constructions this ,upstanding portion was in the way of the operators thumb and interfered with the manual turning of the balance-wheel.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly in section, of one end of a sewing machine bracket-arm embodying a preferred form of the present improved bobbinwnder. f

Fig. 2 is an end view of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow A, but with the hand-wheel and parts carried thereby omitted.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view substantially on the lines 3-3 of Figs. 1 and 4.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional View substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. l.

Fig. 6 is a detail rear end View of a portion of the bobbin-Winder, looking in the direction i11- dicated by the arrow B in Fig. 3. v

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of a latch-lever forming a part of the improved bobbin-Winder.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to the upper portion ,fof Fig. 3 but showing the bobbin-Winder in its inoperative position.

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic View illustrating a camming action on the bobbin-Winder latchlever, later to be described.

Fig. 10 is a view-similar to Fig. 5 but showing a modified construction.

Referring more speciiically to the drawings, the invention is disclosed as embodied in a sewing machine, comprising a frame I formed with a cylindrical bearing-boss Ia in which is journaled a main or needle-bar driving shaft 2. At its rear end the shaft 2 has secured thereto, as

by a pin 3, a sleeve 4 upon which is rotatably journaled a handor balance-wheel 5, provided with an annular rim or runway 6. As shown in the drawings, the wheel 5 is adapted to be rotated by an electric motor M through the medium of a worm 'I secured upon the motor shaft 8 and a cooperating worm-wheel 9 fixed to the hub 5a of the balance-wheel 5. It is to be understood, however, that any other suitable means maybe employed to rotate the balance-wheel. Clutch means, comprising a manually rotatable clampscrew I9, threaded into the sleeve 4, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4,-is provided for clamping the balance-wheel to the sleeve 4 so that rotation of the balance-wheel will drive the main shaft 2. The'hub 5a of the balance-wheel isy journaled on the sleeve 4 between an annularY shoulder 4a thereon and a thrust washer II slidingly mounted on the outer end of the sleeve. The clamp-screw is adapted to bear against the washer II and thereby clamp the hub of the balance-wheel between the washer and the shoulder la to cause the sleeve 4 and main shaft! to be rotated by the balance-wheel. The rim 6 of the balance-wheel serves to actuate the bobbin-Winder, later to be described, and, to permit bobbins to be wound without rotating the main shaft, the clamp-screw I0 may be backed off to unclamp the balance-wheel from the sleeve 4. Pins IIa, carried by the washer I I, cooperate with the inner end of a stop-screw I3 threaded into the clamp-screw I0 to prevent undue -loosening of the clamp-screw.

The mechanism hereinbefore described is substantially the same in construction and operation as that forming the subject of United States patent to W. J. Peets, No. 1,934,373, Nov. 7, 1933. Also as disclosed in the Peets patent, the motor M and its shaft 8 are carried by a bracket or casting I2 secured to the frame I, as by screws I4. After assembly, the bracket I2 is, in effect, a portion of the frame I and for the purpose of this disclosure may be so considered.

The Peets patent discloses a conventional form of bobbin-Winder including an upwardly and forwardly inclined arm 5I on which is pivoted the bell-crank lever 53 which carries the bobbint ,filled. This latch-lever has a relatively short actuating lever-arm and therefore a considerable pressure on the thread is required to trip the latch. In some cases this excessive pressure on the thread is undesirable.

The present improved bobbin-Winder eliminates the upstanding portions which were in the way of the operators thumb; it substitutes a straight line movement for the swinging movement of the spindle carrier; it provides increased leverage for the latch-lever whereby it may be tripped by less pressure on the thread, and it provides a convenient adjustment to compensate for wear in the rubber-tired drive wheel.

The preferred form of bobbin-Winder, as disclosed in Figs. 1 to 9, comprises a supporting rod I5, of uniform diameter throughout, translatably but nonrotatably mounted within a horizontally disposed cylindrical bore IS formed in a tubular bearing boss |'I perpendicular to the main shaft 2. This boss may be provided by the frame I or it may be formed integral with the motorsupporting casting I2. At its forward end the rod l5 has a transverse head I8 formed with a bore I9 in which is rotatably journaled a spindle 2D adapted, at one end, to receive and hold a sewing machine bobbin B. At its opposite end the spindle 28 has secured to it a rubber-tired driving wheel 2|, adapted, in the inner position of the rod I5, to engage the annular rim E of the balance-wheel, whereby rotation is transmitted from the balance-wheel to the spindle 25 and the bobbin carried thereby. To prevent the rod l5 from rotating in its bearing, the rear end of the rod carries a horizontally disposed plate 22 which projects laterally from the rod and slides in transverse slots 23 formed in the side walls of the bearing boss I'I. The wall at the inner end of this slot forms an abutment for the plate 22 and thereby limits the outward movement of the rod I5.

Latch means is provided for holding the rod I5 in its innermost, or bobbin-winding position, with the wheel 2| in driving contact with the rim B of the balance-wheel. This latch means comprises a lever 24 fulcrumed intermediate its ends on a Shoulder screw 25 threaded into the bearing boss I'I. The forward end of the lever 24 is curved, as shown at 24a, and is adapted to bear upon the thread being wound upon the bobbin. A coiled spring 2B, located within a cavity 21 in the bearing boss I'I, about the screw 25, has one off-set end 26a secured in the bearing boss and the other off-set end 25h engaging the latch-lever 24, and normally urges the forward end of the lever downwardly into contact with the thread on the bobbin. The rearward end 24n o the lever 24 forms an abutment for a block 28 adjustably secured, by a screw 29, to the transverse plate 22, carried by the supporting rod I5, and serves, during a bobbin-winding operation to hold the rod in its innermost position thereby to maintain the rubber-tired` wheel in Contact with the rim 6 of the balance-wheel. The block 28 serves as means to adjust the rod I5 axially to compensate for wear in the wheel 2| and also to predetermine the amount of thread to be wound on the bobbin. The rod I5 and the parts carried thereby are normally urged outwardly, to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5, in which the wheel 2| is out of contact with the rim 6 of the balance-wheel, by a coil-spring 30 having one end located within a bore 3! formed in the bearing boss II parallel with the bore I5. The outer end of the spring bears against the transverse head |8 of the rod I5. A sheet-metal sleeve 32 surrounds and protects the spring 30 and has one end fixed within a bore 33 in the head I8. The other end of the sleeve is slidingly mounted in the bore 3|.

The lever 24 preferably is made of a sheetmetal stamping and is bent intermediate its ends along a line :1J-:12, Fig. 7, so that its forward portion lies substantially in a horizontal plane while its rearward portion stands in a vertical plane, as shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and '7. As illustrated in Fig. 9, the rearward end 24b of the latchlever 24 is formed as an arc of a circle the radius R of which extends from the fulcrum-point of the lever. Therefore swinging of the latch-lever under the influence of the thread on the bobbin will have no effect on the supporting rod I5 until the upper corner of the latch-lever is moved below the lower edge of the plate 28.

Fig. 10 illustrates a modification which differs from the construction shown in Fig. 5 in that, in the modified construction, the translatable rod |5a, having a transverse head I which carries' the spindle 20, is made of two diameters and is tted within a stepped bearing. The smaller diameter I5b is slidingly mounted in a bore ||i in the bearing boss |'I and the larger diameter I5c is fitted within a counterbore H5b in the boss. In place of the spring 39 (Fig. 5) for shifting the rod, and the parts carried thereby, the modified construction employs a larger spring 30@L located within the counterbore 6b between a shoulder I5d on the rod and the bottom wall I6.c of the counterbore.

The operation of the improved bobbin-Winder is as follows. 'Ihe operator, having released the clamp-screw I0 to disconnect the balance-wheel from the main shaft, places an empty bobbin B2 on the free end of the spindle 20 and manually winds the thread T a few turns thereon. Next she pushes inwardly on the head I8 to force the rubber-tired wheel 2|, from the position shown in Fig. 8, into driving contact with the rim E of the balance-wheel. This movement causes the block 281:0 ride oir the end of the tail 24h of the anchlever 24, whereupon the spring 26 turns the latchlever clockwise and places the tail 24b thereof in the path of movement of the block, as shown ln Fig. 3, and prevents endwise movement of the rod I5 under the influence of the spring 30. Rotation of the balance-wheel by the motor Mrwill then rotate the spindle 2i) and cause the thread to be wound on the bobbin. The curved portion 24a of the latch-lever bears upon the thread on the bobbin and, as the thread builds up thereon, it gradually shifts the lever 24 counter-clockwise until, when the bobbin is filled, the tail 24b releases the block 28 and permits the spring 30 to shift the rod I5 and the parts carried thereby to the inoperative position shown in Fig. 8. As illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 9, the angle of the upper edge 24 of the tail-piece 24b to the bottom surface 28a of the block 28 is such that as the block is shifted forward by the spring 30 it has a camming action on the latch-lever and thereby tips it slightly counterclockwise as Viewed in Fig. 9, and raises the forward end 24a out of contact with the thread and above the side wall of the bobbin to facilitate removal of the bobbin from the spindle. This camming action also serves as a shock-absorber, or snubber, on the rodw |5 and thereby eases it into its inoperative position.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

1. A bobbin-Winder, for sewing machines having a frame and a balance-wheel supportedby said frame and provided with an annular runway, comprising an endwise movable supporting rod slidingly mounted in said frame, a rotatable bobbin-carrying spindle carried by one end of said supporting rod, a drive-wheel secured to said spindle and adapted to be engaged with the annular runway on said balance-wheel, spring means normally acting to shift said rod endwise to position said drive-wheel out of contact with said runway, a latch-lever fulcrumed intermediate its ends on a stationary portion of the sewing machine, one end of said lever being adapted to bear upon the thread being wound on the bobbin and the other end forming an abutment, and a member secured to the other end of said rod and cooperating with said abutment to maintain said supporting rod in a position to hold said drive-wheel in contact with said runway until said lever is shifted sumciently by the thread to move said abutment out of the path of said member.

2. A bobbin-Winder, for sewing machines having a frame and a balance-wheel supported by said frame and provided with an annular runway, comprising an endwise movable supporting rod slidingly mounted in said frame, a head on one end of said rod, a bobbin-carrying spindle journaled in said head transverse to said supporting rod, a drive-wheel secured to said spindle and adapted to be engaged with the annular runway on said balance-wheel, spring means normally acting to shift said rod endwise to position said drive-wheel out of contact with said runway, a latch-lever fulcrumed intermediate its ends on a stationary portion of the sewing machine, and a member secured to the other end of said rod and cooperating with said latch-lever to maintain said supporting rod in a position to hold said drive-wheel in contact with said runway.

3. A bobbin-Winder, for sewing machines having a frame and a balance-wheel provided with an annular runway, comprising a bearing boss formed on said frame and provided with a bore and a transverse slot, an endwise movablesupporting rod slidably mounted in the bore in said bearing boss, a head on the forward end of said rod, a bobbin-carrying spindle journaled in said head transverse to said supporting rod, a plate secured to the rearward end of said rod and having projecting ends slidingly fitted within the slot in said bearing boss to prevent rotation of said rod, a drive-wheel secured to said spindle and adapted to be engaged with the annular runway on said balance-wheel, spring means normally acting to shift said rod endwise to position said drive-wheel out of contact with said runway, a latch-lever fulcrumed intermediate its ends on a stationary portion 0f the sewing machine, and a member secured to the rearward end of said rod and cooperating with said latch-lever to maintain said supporting rod in a position to holo. said drive-wheel in contact with said runway.

4. A bobbin-Winder, for sewing machines having a frame and a balance-wheel provided with an annular runway, comprising an endwise movable supporting rod slidably mounted in a bore in said frame, a rotatable bobbin-carrying spindle carried by one end of said supporting rod, a drivewheel secured to said spindle and adapted to be engaged with the annular runway on said balance-wheel, spring means normally acting to shift said rod endwise to position said drivewheel out of contact with said runway, a latchlever fulcrumed intermediate its ends on a stationary portion of the sewing machine, and a member adjustably supported by the other end of said rod and cooperating with said latch-lever to maintain said supporting rod in a position to hold said drive-wheel in contact with said runway.

5.l A bobbin-Winder, for sewing machines having a frame provided with a bearing boss formed with a bore and a transverse slot and a balancewheel provided with an annular runway, comprising an endwise movable supporting rod slidably mounted in said bore, a bobbin-carrying spindle rotatably journaled at one end of said supporting rod, a plate secured to the other end of saidro-d and slidingly fitted within the transverse slot in the frame to prevent rotation of said rod, a resilient drive-wheel secured to said spindle and adapted to be engaged with the annular run-way on said balance-wheel, spring means normally acting to shift said rod endwise to position said drive-wheel out of contact with said runway, a latch-lever fulcrumed intermediate its ends on a stationary portion of the sewing machine, Aand a member adjustably secured to said plate and cooperating with said latch-lever to maintain said supporting rod in a position to hold said drivewheel in contact with said runway, the adjustment of said member serving to compensate for wear on said drive-wheel.

6. A bobbin-Winder as set forth in claim l, in which the latch-lever is made of a sheet metal stamping bent intermediate its .ends to afford a horizontally disposed portion adapted to bear on the thread being wound on the bobbin and a vertically disposed portion adapted to receive a fulcrum-screw and to provide said abutment.

7. A bobbin-Winder as set forth in claim l in which that end of the latch-lever which affords the abutment is formed as an arc of a circle, the axis of which coincides with the axis of the fulcrum of the latch-lever, whereby movement of the latch-lever under the influence of the thread being wound on the bobbin has no effect on the spindle-supporting rod until the end of the latch-lever is moved below the path of movement of said cooperating member.

8. A bobbin-Winder as set forth in claim 1 in which the upper edge of the abutmentend of the latch-lever is arranged at an acute angle to, but in the path of movement of, the cooperating member carried by the supporting rod, whereby movement of said member, when the bobbin-Winder is shifted to inoperative position, causes the latchlever-to be tipped about its fulcrum to lift the forward end thereof out of contact with the thread on the bobbin, the latch-lever also serving as a shock-absorber for the supporting rod.

9. A bobbin-Winder as set forth in claim 2 in which the means for shifting the supporting rod axially comprises a coil-spring interposed between the frame and the transverse spindlesupporting head at one side of and parallel to said rod.

10. A bobbin-Winder as set forth in claim 3 in which the bore in the bearing boss and the supporting rod movable therein are each formed of two diameters and the means for shifting the rod axially comprises a coil-spring located in the larger bore and surrounding the smaller diameter of the rod.

1l. The combination with a sewing machine frame, a rotary shaft journaled therein and a.

balance-wheel coaxial with said shaft and adapted to be connected therewith, said balance-wheel being provided with an annular runway, of a bobbin-Winder comprising a rod slidable endwise in said frame at right angles to said shaft, a bobbin-supporting spindle carried by said rod, a spindle-driving wheel secured to said vspindle and adapted to engage said runway, a spring normally acting to shift said rod in one direction to disengage said driving wheel from said runway, latch means for holding said driving wheel in engagement with said runway in opposition to said spring, and means actuated by the thread wound on the bobbin to release said latch means.

12. In a sewing machine, `in combination, a frame, a motor-supporting bracket secured thereto, a rotary shaft journaled in said frame, a balance-wheel coaxial with said shaft and adapted to be connected therewith, said balancewheel being provided with an annular runway, an electric motor carried by said bracket and adapted to rotate said balance-wheel, and a bobbin-winder comprising a supporting rod slidable endwise in a bore in said bracket at right angles to said shaft, means; to prevent rotation of said rod in said bore, a bobbin-supporting spindle carried by said rod, a spindle-driving wheel secured to said spindle and adapted to f engage said runway, a spring normally acting to shift said rod in one direction to disengage said driving Wheel from said runway, latch means for holding said driving wheel in engagement with said runway in opposition to said spring, and means actuated by the thread wound on the bobbin to release said latch means.

13. In a sewing machine, in combination,.a frame, a motor-supporting bracket secured thereto and having at its upper portion a bearing-boss provided with a horizontally disposed bore, a rotary shaft journaled in said frame, a balance-wheel coaxial with said shaft and adapted to be connected therewith, said balancewheel being provided with an annular runway, an electric motor carried by said bracket and adapted to rotate said balance-wheel, and a bobbin-winder carried by said bracket and comprising a rod slidable endwise in said bore perpendicular to said shaft, means to prevent rotation of said rod in said borejav bobbin-supporting spindle carried by said rod, a spindle-driving wheel secured to said spindle and adapted to engage said runway, a spring normally acting to shift said rod in one direction to disengag'e said driving wheel from said runway, latch means for holding said driving Wheel in engagement with said runway in opposition to said spring, and means actuated by the thread wound on the bobbin to release said latch means. l

JOHN D. KARLE. 

